A number of different space resources have been made available to various users in the past. Such space resources have included shared space resources which are accessible to a number of unaffiliated users simultaneously and exclusive space resources which, although being available for use by any number of unaffiliated users, are only accessible to a particular user at any particular point in time. Management of the utilization of such resources has, however, not been robust.
For example, corporate and airline lounges provide shared space resources which have often been made available to users at locations throughout the world. However, the access to such shared spaces has typically been membership based, whereby membership is required for entry into the lounge premises. A member user may thus present credentials to a receptionist or other gatekeeper and be permitted access to the lounge on an ad hoc basis. Once permitted access, the user is typically permitted complete access to the shared space facilities. Thus, the membership charges for access to the resource are generally based upon a “one-size-fits-all” pricing model (e.g., an annual membership fee, a monthly membership fee, or a daily access fee), typically determined based upon the average or expected utilization of the shared space resource and its amenities. Accordingly, although a user may be required to separately pay for certain items purchased at a point of sale within the shared space resource (e.g., beverages or meals consumed by the user), a user is not enabled to pay for only those aspects of the shared space resource that the user actually avails him/herself of.
Although an operator of a shared space resource may be able to track a user entering the space, such as through the aforementioned presentation of credentials, the operator is often unable to track the user's exit. For example, the presentation of credentials for access is cumbersome enough that user's will not tolerate a similar process upon departing the space resource. Moreover, even when a user's entrance and exit of the space resource are captured, present solutions fail to provide information regarding the users' behavior within the space resource (e.g., the particular areas of the space which are utilized, the amenities the user does/does not avail themselves of, etc.). Accordingly, the operator of the space resource is provided with little information regarding the actual use of the space resource and its amenities by the users.
As another example, meeting rooms are often provided by hotels and airport fixed base operators (FBOs), whereby a user may have exclusive access to the space resource for some period of time. The reservation and access process, however, is typically tedious and limited. For example, a user must often call and speak with a customer service agent, or engage in an email exchange, to determine the availability of the space resource, provide payment information to reserve the space, and then manually check in with a customer service agent, often again providing the payment information, upon arrival at the space.
Although some providers of such exclusive access space resources have provided some level of automation for reserving a space resource, such attempts are generally limited to a simple calendar for a particular space resource showing its reserved/open times. The user may be enabled to select a time for their reservation and denote that on the calendar. However, if the desired time is not available the user must generally manually select another space resource (if one is even offered) to determine if the desired time is available. Moreover, the user of such a space resource calendar must typically still manually check in with a customer service agent upon arrival at the space.
Moreover, although a user may be provided exclusive use of the space resource, the user is nevertheless not charged only for their utilization of that space resource. For example, a user is typically charged based upon their reservation of the space resource (e.g., a number of hours or days that the user reserved the meeting room for their exclusive use), rather than the actual time that they availed themselves of the space resource. Accordingly, if a user relinquishes the space resource prior to the end of their reservation the user is charged for the entire time of the reservation. This is often despite another user being ready and willing to utilize that space resource. This result may stem from the often cumbersome and generally slow process by which the utilization of the space resource is managed, whereby the first user's relinquishment of the space and the second user's desire to utilize the space are not able to be identified and connected in time to facilitate the transition in use of the space resource.
Existing solutions have been unable to satisfactorily provide for ad hoc utilization of exclusive space resources. That is, although shared space resources, wherein a large number of users are permitted to simultaneously utilize the space resource, enable users to access the space resource on an spontaneous, ad hoc basis, exclusive space resources are generally most effectively utilized via prior reservation of the space resource. For example, the process of determining availability of the space resource (e.g., due to upcoming reservations by other users), blocking a time period for an ad hoc user, implementing a payment methodology, and granting physical access to the space resource often discourages many casual, ad hoc uses (e.g., spontaneous uses of an hour or less) of the space.